Pens At Thrashers Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
Nov 22, 12:58 PM | Hype this story!
Penguins top the Moose
Despite Dan Marouelli
Did Skoula score twice?
Offense: A-
They had great chances all night long, but Hedberg kept stoning them. The forecheck was solid, and they had an incredible number of odd-man breaks. It was the best they’ve looked in awhile.
Defense: C
They played well in spurts, but also had some horrid stretches where they traded rushes with Atlanta.
Yeo Play: F
YEO MUST GO!!!
Okay, they scored one, but then gave up a shorty to balance it out.
Penalty Kill: A
Great job on the kill. Kovalchoo was never able to get his patented one-timer away, and they shut out the league’s fourth-best power play.
Goaltending: A
Fleury was tremendous in a great bounce-back game for him after the Ottawa debacle. He made several sterling saves, but none was better than the cartwheeling one he made on Afinogenov. That was a thing of beauty. Maybe it’s those new all-white pads?
Overall: A-
The Pens played well for 2½ periods, then seemed to let up a bit once Kovalchukhad gotten the gate. It was way closer at the end than it needed to be. But until that point, the Pens had dominated what had been a red-hot Thrasher squad. It was nice to see the offense come alive a bit.
And now, the rest of the story…
Sid: B
He was on his game last night, even though he ended up with but one assist and a -2. He just could not beat the Moose.
Geno: C
He was relatively invisible until he scored a goal. Just not a whole lot going on with him right now.
Moose: A
That was the Moose from the 2001 playoffs. Boy, did it bring back those memories of the playoffs when you were just shocked when any shot got by him. Way to go, Moose.
Bibsy: A
“One stick plus one butt equals one goal.” Or is it one stick plus one ass equals one goal?
“I get the tingles” over Kovalchuk.
Martin Skoula: A
Who knew he was the next Bobby Orr?
Ben Lovejoy: A
This one’s for you, SINA220. Yes, I inadvertently overlooked him last game, so I’ll give him props for this one. I like his game. He can skate, and he just looks smooth out there. It would be a travesty if he gets sent down before Engelland.
Consol Energy Center: A
I get the tingles when they do features showing the progress being made.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
[WARNING: Rant follows]
I say again, as I say after every Penguin game Dan Marouelli officiates, why the hell is this guy ever, EVER allowed to call a Penguin game? He is the most biased anti-Penguin ref in the league. And yes, that includes Kerry Hairspray. This buffoon just screws them over time and time again. And it couldn’t be more obvious.
Gee, let’s give the Bruins a two-man advantage in the waning moments of a playoff game. Gee, let’s kick Mario out of a playoff game. Gee, let’s call a penalty shot in overtime against the Pens.
But he really outdid himself last night. It was as if he was afraid this was the last Penguin game he was ever going to call, and he had to get it out of his system. Chronologically:
Colby tripped Rupp, no call.
Ron Hainsey just mugged Geno in the corner, with Marouelli looking right at it. NO call.
Orpik never touches Afinogenov. Afinogenov flops to the ice as if he’d been shot. Two for tripping on Orpik.
Engelland got can-openered right in front of him. Blind to it.
Geno’s stick gets slashed as he goes to shoot on the power play. It breaks. What has been an automatic call all year long suddenly isn’t a penalty. To rub salt in the wound, the Thrashers go up ice and score.
It was so bad last night that even Bibsy was just laughing and saying things like, “The players know what’s going on.” If that doesn’t intimate that the Pens know of the bias Marouelli has against them, I don’t know what does. I don’t have the time to do it, but I’d love to see a statistical analysis of all the Pens games he’s called over the years. I guarantee they’d be the outliers on the curve. The guy is a joke, and he can’t retire soon enough.
Ah, I feel better now.
Icehole of the Game
Gee, guess who?
Minard of the Game
Staal’s sod brain kicked in again. He was wide open right in front of Moose, but decided to pass it to Fedotenko off to the side. Of course, the pass misfired and they ended up without a shot.
Free Cookie
He got Kovalchoo to fight and get himself kicked out of the game. That’s as free as it gets.
Free Candy
It was nice to see the candy being doled out once again. He gave some out to both Peverley and Colby.
Monk Moment
It’s hard to ignore the Fleury cartwheel save, but the Pens taking the lead with a power play goal shocked me even more.
A guide to the game grades can be found here.
Comments
FDeuce
Nov 22, 01:40 PM
mike,
rant all you want, after last night, the officiating in the NHL is now officially a joke.
ps this is my favorite postgame read.
Pens1967
Nov 22, 02:34 PM
Mike, the tripping call that we all thought was against Orpik, actually was given to Chris Borque. I have no idea why.
You are way too hard on Geno. He was all over the ice and played well. He even got the game-winning goal.
Chris A
Nov 22, 06:05 PM
I’ll say it again…who will start a petition to have Yeo removed?
Pens1967
Nov 22, 07:56 PM
Until last night, I hadn’t really paid all that much attention to how it’s designed. After watching it more closely, I agree that the design is terrible. There is absolutely no movement.
I watch a lot of HS hoops and I’d compare it to where one team sits in a zone and the attacking team thinks it can score by passing the ball around the perimeter. It doesn’t work if no one moves. If you move, you can get the zone moving and then beat it with backdoor plays or make it break down.
I’m pretty sure the players are executing the PP the way it’s drawn up. Therefore, I assign the blame for its failure to the PP coach.
sina220
Nov 22, 08:16 PM
Nice to see the props to Ben haha. I agree about the smoothness to his game. When you combine his good decision making with his good skating he doesn’t seem to have many awkward moments out there. He makes it look natural. How about on the near-breakaway for Afinogenov, Lovejoy kept up with him enough to throw a little hip check into him and force him wide. Last time I checked Afinogenov was known as one of thee fastest skaters in the league…
DaBich
Nov 23, 08:42 AM
Gee, that’s a lot of tingles you’re getting Mike, you playing with Tasers? ;)
I agree with your rant 110% – Marouelli is a disgrace to hockey…he needs to be fired! Don’t let him retire, just get rid of the azzmunch!
Even Orpik just shook his head at the joke of a call for a dive.
I’m just happy they held on for the win.
Monge15
Nov 23, 04:44 PM
The only other time this season I’ve seen a broken-stick slash not called was on Crosby a few weeks ago. Did Marouelli do that game, do you know? That was also the game that featured the ref dropping the puck before Sid was in the faceoff circle…
Moq
Nov 23, 07:21 PM
Granted, I rarely obsess about specific referees but no great injustices came to mind while watching the game. There were five Pittsburgh penalties during the game, two of which were fighting majors. Perhaps one of the minors was dubious, though hardly enough to warrant ranting. Atlanta had Kovalchuk ejected and Talbot was awarded a more than generous penalty shot. There were undoubtedly missed calls, which happens every game. The rant against Marouelli – based on this game at least – is embarassing, quite frankly.
However, I do agree with most of your game grades. The Pens played two good periods and took things a bit lightly in the third. That’s forgivable given the tough conditions during the last few weeks. It was a step in the right direction, and I think improvement and stability will continue as the injured return.
DaBich
Nov 24, 08:37 AM
Moq, sorry, you’re off the wall on the non-calls. Marouelli was horrible, worse than just the “few missed calls” stuff. It was blatant and it was disgusting.
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